Hydraulic turbine



April zo, 1937. f4, C. HAND 2,077,883

HYDRAULIC TURBINE I Fig. 1.

rrd' 32mg L INVENToR l NORMAN C; HAND l BY 0 ara," g f 5 qu.

ATTORNEY April 2o, 193.7. N, c. HAND l HYDRAULI C TURB I-N 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filedl Nov. 25, 193e INVENTOR C. HAND I ATTORNEY NORMAN Nrs i TENT HYDRAULIC TURBIN E Norman C. Hand, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, as-

signor to S. Morgan Smith Company, York, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application November 23, 1936, Serial No. 112,226

2 Claims.

This invention relates to hydraulic turbines and particularly to a novel form of top or crown plate therefor.

An object of the present invention is to dispense 5 with the usual cast or heavy metal top or crown plate structure and replace the said usual cast or heavy metal top or crown plate structure by piate steel structural elements assembled. in such a manner as to serve the purpose of a turbine l0 frame or casing with the same efficiency, strength and durability as the more expensive, heavier metal structures and at the same time reduce the oost of manufacture and installation and also lighten the weight of the frame or top plate to such an extent as to materially reduce the cost of transportation.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved top or crown plate structure which 1s built up or fabricated in such a manner that its components or parts will uniformly contribute to the formation of a strong and more durable top plate with less labor, and one which is considerably stronger and more durable in its organization.

With the foregoing and other objects and advantages in View, the invention consists in the construction and arrangement of the several parts which will be more fully hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings1- Figure 1 is a Vertical section of a portion of a turbine embodying the features of the invention, taken on the line I-I of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

The general arrangement of the turbine is similar to that usually adopted and comprises a shaft II having a runner l2 secured to the lower end thereof, the shaft being mounted in a suitable bearing I3.

The runner i2 is mounted in a suitable structure comprising a speed ring I4, in which are mounted an annular series of wicket gates I5 and guide Vanes It.

The wicket gates l5 are adapted to be rotated simultaneously into different angular positions to control the flow of water into the turbine, and the guide Vanes IS are so disposed relatively to the wicket gates as to intercept the water flowing into the turbine and direct the same toward the openings between the wicket gates.

The speed ring Il is composed of an upper ange il and a lower flange i8, which flanges are rigidly held in spaced relation relatively to each other by the guide vanes I6.

The turbine is adapted to be mounted in an open flume with the lower ange I8 of the speed ring I4 set in a concrete setting I9.

A shaft or stem 2l) extends through each wicket gate i5. The lower end of the shaft 2li is mounted 5 in a bearing 2l formed in the flange I8, and the upper end of said shaft projects upwardly through a bearing or bushing 22.

The upper end of each shaft 20 carries a gate operating arm 23 which is fixed to said shaft. 1o The arms 23 are connected to a gate adjusting ring 2i as indicated at 25, Fig. 1. The gate adjusting ring is adapted to be operated in a well known manner so as to simultaneously rotate the wicket gates.

The upper portion of the turbine is closed by an annular top or crown plate 26 which is disposed within the speed ring I4.

According to the present invention the top or crown plate 23 is adapted to beV constructed of 20 pieces of sheet metal, such as plate steel, bent to the desired shape and united into a single unitary structure by fusion of metal as by welding.

The top or crown plate 26 is formed with an outer sheet metal wall 2l which extends from the 25 upper flange I1 of the speed ring I4 inwardly and downwardly to the hub of the runner I2. The contour of the wall 2l is such as to provide means for directing the water which passes through the speed ring Id toward the blade of the runner. 30 The sheet metal wall 2l can readily be bent to the desired conical shape shown in Fig. 1 with the aid of dies, and if so desired several pieces of the sheet metal or plate steel can be employed in forming the wall 2l and these pieces of sheet 35 metal can be welded together along their abutting edges so that the wall will be a single homogeneous structure.

For the purpose of reinforcing the outer wall 2l, a plurality of radially disposed webs 28 and 40 substantially cylindrical or circular webs 29, 3Il and 3| are provided. These radial and cylindrical webs are constructed in the manner to be hereinafter more fully described.

The lower portion of the top or crown plate 26 45 is formed with an inwardly extending flange 32. The flange 32 is preferably formed from sheet metal which is connected to the lower edge of the outer wall 2l of the top or crown plate 26 by welding indicated at 33. The flange 32 overlies 59 the top of the hub of the runner I2 and the shaft II extends upwardly through the opening formed centrally in said flange.

At a suitable distance above the flange 32 there is another horizontally disposed sheet metal ring 55 34 which is connected to the inner suruface of the wall 21 by welding, as indicated at 35, Fig. 1.

The two flanges 32 and 34 are reinforced by means of vertical webs 36.

The cylindrical web 29 heretofore referred to surrounds the main bearing I3 and said web is so formed as to provide a support for the bearing I3, as shown in Fig. 1.

In constructing the inner cylindrical web 29 two circular or tubular pieces of sheet metal are employed, a lower tube 3l and an upper tube 38. Connecting the two tubes 3l and 38 is a horizontally disposed sheet metal ring 39. The lower tube 3l is smaller in diameter than the upper tube 38 and said lower tube is connected along its upper edge to the inner portion of the ring 39 by welding indicated at 49, while the lower edge of the upper tube 33 is connected to the periphery of the ring 39 by welding indicated at 4I. The bearing i3 has an outwardly extending flange 42 which is mounted on the flange provided by the ring 39, whereby said bearing is supported in the top or crown plate. The lower portion of the bearing I3 fits snugly within the flange provided by the ring 34, as shown in Fig. l.

Spaced a suitable distance above the outer wall l of the top or crown plate 25 is a horizontally disposed top wall 43, formed from a suitable sheet of plate steel.

The inner end of the top wall 43 is connected to the upper edge of the tube 38 by Welding as indicated at 44, Fig. l.

The radial webs 28 and the cylindrical webs 39 and 3l extend between the outer wall 2l and the top wall 43, providing a skeleton structure for reinforcing said walls.

The radial webs 28 and the cylindrical webs 29 and 39 are each similarly formed, in that said webs have vertically disposed plate steel side walls which are spaced apart a suitable distance and reinforced by suitable diagonally disposed cross members connecting each pair of side walls constituting each web, as shown in Fig. 2. The parts used in forming these webs are welded to- 15 gether so as to provide a rigid homogeneous structure and the spaces between the side walls of said webs are filled with concrete 46, cement, or other non-metallic filler. The concrete 46 may be readily admitted to the interior of the webs 29, 39 and 3i` through the open top ends thereof before the top wall 43 is mounted on the structure.

AS shown in Fig. 2 the bearings or bushings 22 for the wicket gate shafts 20 may be secured to an outer vertical circular wall 41 connecting the periplrery of the outer wall 21 of the top or crown plate 2S and an upper ange plate 48 which latter rests upon the upper ange l1 of the speed ring I4. In this way the top or crown plate 26 is sup ported from the speed ring.

It will be noted that with a top or crown plate thus constructed the outer wall 21 is rigidly held against pressure by the struts provided by the webs 28, 29, 30 and 3|. While the use of plate steel for forming the several parts of the device provides a structure which is considerably lighter in weight than the heavy cast metal structures heretofore manufactured, since the hollow reinforcing webs 28, 29 and 3l) are filled with concrete, sufficient weight will be provided at the points subject to greatest pressure of the water for preventing collapse or bending of the top plate. The entire structure is relatively inexpensive and enables the use of material having relatively higher wear resisting qualities for the surfaces which are exposed to direct contact with the water.

It should be understood that it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact details of construction and of operation herein shown and described, for various modifications within the scope of the claims may occur to persons skilled in the art.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:-

1. A crown plate for turbines comprising a relatively thin sheet metal conical outer Wall, a horizontal sheet metal top Wall, and a plurality of radial and circular struts interposed between said outer and top walls, each of said struts being composed of a pair of spaced parallel vertical sheet metal plates and diagonally disposed reinforcing members within said struts and Weld connected to the parallel sheet metal side plates; thereof, said side walls of the struts being weld connected to the outer wall and top of the crown plate.

2. A crown plate for turbines comprising a relatively thin sheet metal conical outer wall, a horizontal sheet metal top wall, and a plurality of radial and circular struts interposed between said outer and top walls, each of said struts being composed of a pair of spaced parallel vertical sheet metal plates and diagonally disposed reinforcing members within said struts and weld connected to the parallel sheet metal side plates thereof, said side walls of the struts being Weld connected to the outer wall and top of the crown plate, and a lling of concrete within each of said struts.

NORMAN C. HAND. 

